Knowing that this will be
by YNK
Summary: What if Michiru knew what would happen at the Marine Cathedral?


_ I awaken knowing I will die today._

The sun's light falls into the room in muted shades of gold, creating an atmosphere more akin to dusk than dawn. I can hear Haruka breathing, feel the motion of her lungs beneath my fingertips, and I pause to listen and to feel. _Knowing that this will be …_

I shift slightly, trying to quietly escape from her embrace, but I am caught. Her arms tighten around me and I feel my face respond in an unconscious smile. I look up and see the same look reflected in her eyes; emerald green, sparkling even when half-asleep.

"Where do you think you're going?" I feel her voice more than I hear it, the naturally low pitch rumbling against my hand.

"I was going to make breakfast."

A blonde eyebrow quirks above those emerald eyes. "You're going to cook? What's the occasion?"

A kiss to distract her and a whisper into her ear; I lean in close so she cannot see the sadness in my smile. "I love you," I answer simply, with an honesty that burns my heart. I draw back and see the giddy, almost childish wonder on her face.

I escape before I begin to cry. _Knowing that this will be …_

* * *

The answering machine was blinking when we returned from school. I watch Haruka's face change as the voice of our enemy outlined her demands, a deliberate trap that we have no choice but to enter. 

I know this scene by heart. To my right, the window shows an afternoon sky bright with blue innocence. To my left, Haruka's emerald eyes are hardened with resolve. To my heart, the scene burns with unfair anguish.

We never asked for this. We never asked to be chosen to save the world. Pain only comes to those who are chosen. But we were chosen. And for the greater good, we must endure the pain.

For the greater good, we must deliver pain.

For the greater good, we must deliver death.

Three souls in exchange for the fate of the world, for innocent blue skies, and, for me, the sparkle in those eyes of emerald green.

Those three souls will be in the Marine Cathedral, where our enemy has laid her trap. The years of searching has finally come to an end, our duty so close to being fulfilled.

I meet her gaze now and see some of that emerald hardness soften. We reach across the space between us, our fingers gently twining in the silence. It marks the beginning of the end, this bitter, sweet moment.

* * *

We stand before the Marine Cathedral, the dark structure that has marked my dreams for the last 3 years. I feel the tension in Haruka, standing next to me transformed as Sailor Uranus. She is scared. She does not know what will happen when we step inside. 

Suddenly, I reach out again, across the space between us, fingertips barely brushing. It's all I need. _Knowing that this will be …_

A trap, indeed, it has turned out to be. We are attacked as soon as we enter, but we are not ones to be so easily felled. The last threat disappears, but I know this scene. There is one more.

But just as in my dream, I see it only just before it hurls into Haruka. I call out, but I'm already in the air, knowing that though my voice will do nothing, my body will. I shove her out of the way, but as the warmth of her skin leaves my fingers, a cold wall slams into my whole body, and I see black.

_ I awaken knowing I will die today._

I can hear Haruka breathing, feel the motion of her lungs in my fingertips, and I pause to listen and to feel.

"No!"

It's her scream that breaks me from the dream and I know this scene as if I'm still in it, dreaming while I struggle to break the bonds that hold me. A walkway separates me from her and standing in front of her, blocking her from view, is our red-haired enemy. In our enemy's hands is a weapon I've seen only in glimpses but enough times to know that I cannot let her pull its trigger.

And so I run. I scream and it echoes, in the cathedral and in the dream, and in the peripheral of my vision, the angels that line the walls turn towards me. I run, catching the glint of the angels' arrows just as they're set free.

It's my scream that breaks from the dream, that brings me to the reality of the pain of having fallen. The walkway is still there, our enemy is still there, and I stand. I call out Haruka's name, but I know that though my voice will do nothing, my body will.

I walk again, attracting the angels' attention and they let their arrows fly, ripping me once, twice, a hundred times more, and I scream. I scream, and I fall, watching Haruka's face change and the emerald hardness give way to horror.

I know this scene. I stand again. I'm almost there.

But so is she, our enemy. My body, just as in my dream, fails me here. I can do nothing but fall, feeling the weapon press sharply against my abdomen, hearing the trigger click and engage. I pause, to listen and to feel, looking into emerald eyes and hoping she can see my smile.

_ Knowing that this will be …_

…

(… the last time)

written by Ducky 


End file.
